The head of the EU Council has visited Angela Merkel to congratulate her on forming a governing coalition.
ADVERTISEMENTThere were smiles of relief all round in Berlin as Donald Tusk congratulated Angela Merkel on forming a new government.
On Twitter, the head of the EU council said it was time to build an exclusive, pan-European Grand Coalition to deal the budget, migration and Eurozone issues.
However, it has come at a price. Germany's Social Democrats have clinched key portfolios. Experts say it is stability that counts.
"The main message is one of stability. In the centre of Europe for the next four years, we are going to have stability, guaranteed by the French and German governments, both centre-oriented, in the sense that the political centre is strengthened and a platform of competitiveness and social cohesion is strengthened - and will drive Europe," said Mario Telo from the Institute of European Studies.
Some think the arrival of the Social Democrats in power heralds major policy changes for Europe.
"There is one aspect of the new German government that is regarded as almost historic in EU circles and that is the transfer of the Finance Ministry from the Christian Democrats to the Social Democrats. The thinking is that we will be seeing less strict austerity, but more openness to public investments - on a German as well as on a European level," said Euronews correspondent Stefan Grobe.
